Tuesday, April 3, 2007

Meeting over, but body systems and family systems are still recovering from the dislocations, so I'm not quite "all there" yet.

So this will be a bit short. But, I do want to continue with the topic of "refrigerators". Eventually here, we'll have a summary post, that kind of clarifies the whole conversation.

I'm suggesting that folks living in first world cities should all get rid of their refrigerators. Today, if possible.

You don't need it. You can buy any perishable foodstuff you want, today.

You'll be healthier, and wealthier without it. You won't have stockpiles of treats available 24/7- you won't buy them and you won't eat them. The extra walking you do to buy the perishables going into the spaghetti tonight will help, too.

You won't be paying for the electricity to run it. And- most refrigerators are outrageously inefficient.

And- you have to pump their heat twice- once to get it out of the fridge; and often again to get it out of the house. Especially during a heat wave...

A basic fact about current refrigerator design: they're made to attract buyers; NOT to be efficient at keeping food.

All of which means- refrigerators and airconditioners are a HUGE part of the reason power companies build new power-plants- and why the power blacks out during heat waves. Everybody is getting into the fridge to get cold drinks- so the fridge runs more- so the airconditioner runs more- so the power grid can't supply the demand. Hey, we need more power generation.

This is all a by-product of the UNSTATED ASSUMPTION we all make- "if I buy a new machine- the power will be there to run it, and the new power won't cost enough to notice."

Time's up, for that assumption. We still design everything we use as if its power consumption was a very minor consideration.

Why does your new TV pull 100 watts of power? ONLY because to use the slightly better components they could have installed, so that it would pull 50 watts instead, would increase the initial cost of the TV by $30.

And the economists will always say, "Look, it would take you 10 years to get your $30 back just from the electricity you'd save; this isn't worth doing."

Except the electricity is ENORMOUSLY more expensive than the bill from the power company states. Cheap power is what's causing climate change- if we were honest, we'd add the cost of rebuilding New Orleans, and burying the dead there, into the electricity bills for the world.

7 comments:

Wow. This is a seriously new thought for me and I LOVE it! I'm really going to think about what you are saying... I've never even considered it before. I am already beginning to make changes as far as stopping by the store more often on my bike so that I don't need to do the huge grocery runs with the vehicle.

I've been choosing a more eco-conscious lifestyle for about 20 years now, but I have never heard this idea before. Thanks for the food for thought. I'm going to go see what I actually have in there right now! :)

Hmmm... I hear what you are saying... Fridges are, to me, one of the staples of the American lifestyle. Did you ever notice that the typical american fridge is twice the size of the Euro-fridge, no matter what the size of the household?

I considered it your fridge idea, but my conscience is pretty clean in that department. My fridge is about half the size of a normal European, and 4 times smaller than the american monsters (for two people).

But you did make me think of one thing... I have a huuuuuge freezer in my bike garage... that has been running for the last year or so freezing a pile of frozen veggies that came with the house and a couple of steaks at the most. Out of sight, out of mind...

So there! I am unplugging it! Thanks greenpa! I am also trying my own Euro-broke-student-version of sustainable living. I'll be sure to blog about this new and unexpected turn of events on my next post. I would be thrilled if you came by to visit ;) Too bad you don't have trackbacks...

This is a very tempting idea, especially considering I don't have that much in my fridge, and even less in my freezer. But what about my soy milk? And all my condiments? And my margarine? And man, there's nothing like a cold beer in the middle of summer... I think I could maybe try this for spring and fall at least, when Canadian weather is cool, and stick some stuff out on my balcony.

Thank you so much Anonymous, the answer was so obvious I never would have thought of it. I'm going right now to put my hand in the tank. I believe you just solved my milk problem (I buy raw from a farmer *gasp* and my bar fridge is too small for the quantity I'm willing to make the drive for. Plus now I'll be using less water do to the decrease of tank size. I'll let you all know if it still has enough pressure to flush well and if I don't end up with cheese.

about me-

It's a play on Grandpa, and green, as in environmentally aware, and Pa, as in ... Pa. An actual grandpa twice, and a Pa three times.

64, kids from two marriages, currently with an 8 year old zooming around the house. The house is as advertised, a very small log cabin in the woods. Tiny. It's like living on a yacht; no closet space, which is maybe half of why #1 went away.

I've been living "ultra" green for 35 years. Off the grid always, business too. Electricity from solar; and a little gas backup in winter. Composting toilet, big garden, heat with wood. Not vegetarians; hunter/gatherer/gardener. Not opposed to people living in cities.

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Basic Green Practices in the Little House

1) Off the grid. 31 years. Solar electricity2) Limited power- house electricity has 4 golf cart batteries.3) Composting toilet. Outside. (eew, you do that indoors!?)4) No road to house. You gotta walk.5) No running water in house. Water pumped by wind.6) Showers solar heated; outdoors.7) Heat with wood. One stove in house-..8) Cook with wood 8 months, propane in summer9) Most of our fuelwood now is from trees we planted10) No refrigerator. 31 years. You don't need one either.11) Big garden.12) Eat locally when possible, not obsessive about it.13) No pesticide use ever, gardens or crops; not even organic (ok, except a little in the outhouse and the greenhouse...)14) Earth sheltered solar greenhouse (aren't they all solar??)15) Shut up about it. Nobody likes preaching.16. These are our choices- yours are yours.

Basic Practices On This Blog-

1) I do not have time to dig out all the references for you- if you doubt something I say here, google it immediately- and don't bug me if I'm off by a couple of degrees.2)"Eat compost and die" type comments will cheerfully be deleted. They won't even tick me off, I just feel pity. Really. So if I were you, I wouldn't bother. (Note to other bloggers- this requirement for basic politeness works- total # of mean comments deleted by me so far ~ 5; spammers deleted ~ 10)3) Long comments on posts are quite welcome; don't worry about it.4) I WILL try to answer questions, but it may take me a while to get to them.

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